Last week, we launched StreetFire’s new homepage for registered users—you had to be logged in to see it—but now, we’ve taken the plunge and pushed it out for everyone. At the very top of the page, you’ll still see a widget highlighting nine videos Nads and I have picked, but everything under that has changed. In addition to a section showcasing the Popular New Videos, there’s a new home for our Channel Partners—Speedhunters, Bang Shift, SpeedTV—and a constantly updated area showing the Newest Videos on the site. Since StreetFire and CarDomain are totally BBFs now, we canned the StreetFire blog and added a feed that will feature the lastest posts to the CarDomain blog. That means you’ll see stuff from writers other than me, which I’ve been told is a very, very good thing. Overall, we’re really happy with the redesign, and think it will do a much better job of showcasing all the awesome content on StreetFire.  Head over, check it out, and let us know what you think!

Recently, most of the news about diesel engines has revolved around the fact that today’s diesel motors are not the slow, dirty powerplants of yesteryear. And while this 740HP pickup definitely isn’t slow, it sure as hell is dirty. Now, I know it’s not really fair to compare a drag-tuned truck to something like Mercedes’ Bluetec engines—the first to win certification in California in two decades—but that’s all I could think about when I was watching this clip. Seriously, a few more seconds on the starting line, and I don’t think that the driver would have been able to see anything.

I first met Vaughn Gittin Jr. in a non-descript Maryland strip mall parking lot on a Wednesday night in September of 2001. He was hanging out at the kickoff party for the old Super Street Tour. He was introduced to me as a “drifter” but I was nonplussed. Keep in mind, at this point I had already been to Japan and witnessed Taniguchi manji the OG HKS S15 at Bihoku Highland. I was already a JDM drift fan boy with no time for a wannabe. Fast forward to last Saturday night and I see JR at a party. He is no longer the fresh-faced kid I remember. Now he walks with a swagger that can only come after running the high bank of Irwindale harder than the world’s best drifters. In this picture he’s riding the wall on the 100 mph first turn at the Red Bull event in his 2008 car, “Betsy”. On this day he would later tag the wall too hard retiring the car. But that’s his style – go big or… you know the rest. This year, poppa JR’s gotta a brand new bag. Hit the jump to see the video. As an added bonus check out the verbal smackdown he lays on Samuel Hubinette at the 1:57 mark.

Continue reading "Vaughn Gittin Jr and His Superbad Falken Drift 2010 Mustang GT" »

This goofy contraption inspired by the Happy Jack H2 Commercialis was built on 1991 S10 pickup chassis. I’d actually never seen the H2 ad that inspired this thing until now. Not a huge fan of the H2, but I’d say the ad makes good use of one of my favorite Who songs. See more pics of this wood Hummer on eBay. Via Jalopnik

Chevy Nomads are one of the few cars that will be eternally cool. Maybe that’s why Robert “Nick” Nichols wanted one and was willing to wait for it—for 50 years to be exact! Acting on a promise from his wife he was finally able to score a cherry 1955 two-door wagon and put all those years of planning into action. What he ended with is a car that is eternally driveable, sprightly, and able to be cruised across the country if he ever chose to do so.

This is an example of some creative thinking, great use of factory and aftermarket parts, and a guy seeing through his vision for a car that he had dreamt about for decades. Nick told us that he shows and drives the car as much as possible, and as a retired member of the US Army, he has certainly earned the right to do so.

We thank Nick for his service and for letting us crawl all over his hot rod. Click here to see the photos and get the skinny on one totally bitchin’ Nomad.

Top Secret is preparing to release their first new product for the Z34 370Z! Produced in carbon fiber, this high end front spoiler is all function! The spoiler utilizes integrated brake ducts, similar in execution to their R35 GT-R front diffuser. The shape is reworked to allow increased downforce while retaining the street ability of the car. The carbon fiber serves for function and also for looks considering that it covers a generous portion of the stock bumper in carbon fiber. Continue reading at The Real JDM

A few weeks ago, I wrote up a preview of the upcoming RM Icons of Speed and Style auction for the Hemmings e-Weekly Newsletter, but ever since, I’ve been enthralled by the cars that will be offered at the auction. In particular, if there’s one car there I would sell a kidney or other body part for, it wouldn’t be the Deora or the Road Agent or the Khougaz roadster. It would be the Art Gerrick lakes modified. RM has it listed as lot R23, estimated to go for $40,000 to $60,000. Continue reading at Hemmings

Many of us dream (with me pleading guilty on all counts) of one day owning a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Pagani, Lamborghini, or Bugatti. But, if you think realistically, a whole many of us, will never own a real luxury car or a real exotic, supercar or hypercar. All that exquisite luxury, with a seemingly infinite amount of power, soul, and passion comes at a terrible price –quite literally, at that.

Enter Ernie. Like many of us, Ernie would love to own a super car, hyper car, mid-life crisis car, but he’s come to the realization that, really, it is almost impossible. He’s a guy that has worked on and built countless amounts of race and show cars (mostly SC400s). He’s seen much soul and passion in his days, but he’s never actually been able to possess such qualities in a car that is his very own. This car is Ernie’s dream car. It embodies his passion and love he has for his favorite car, the Lexus SC400 (or Toyota Soarer for you super car nerds out there). Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Linhbergh Nguyen

I just got word from Neil Tjin that the GM Design Camaro winners list has been leaked. It’s no big surprise that Neil is on the list. Here it is:

Tjin Edition – Neil Tjin
National Guard – Nick Ashby
Rick Bottom Designs – Rick Bottom
Sound Choice Audio and Performance – Mark Abate
Bomex Aero
DSO Eyewear
Conrad Grunewald
Trent’s Trick Upholstery

Neil is promising to send us his rendering as soon as everything has been finalized, and of course he will document the entire build on CarDomain, right up until the car debuts at SEMA! So stay tuned…

Saw this over at StangNet. It was spotted on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California. More pics after the jump!

Continue reading "Mustang Golf Cart" »

Roger Neuman has a personal history with 904s. Over the past 30 years Roger has owned and raced four different 904s, chassis 002, 016, 028, 091. Currently he owns the second 904 built, verified by its chassis 002. Roger’s current 904 is unique in several significant ways. First, it is fitted with a leather interior, verified as correct by factory photos of the early build cars in 1963. Next, unlike the production 904s, whose bodies were molded and assembled by aircraft manufacturer Heinkel and are thicker, Roger has been told that the first two bodies were molded by a small facility in Stuttgart who was not able to meet Porsche’s production requirements to get the cars homologated. This 904 is also equipped with a 6-cylinder engine, reportedly installed at the Porsche factory at some point late in the 1960s before the car was sold to its first private owner.

Although the car has been well documented in two different 904-specific books, there are many gaps in the car’s chain of ownership over the last 45 years. As the car’s current owner, Roger is curious to learn more about its history. Read more at Automotive Traveler.

On Sunday I decided to do a windscreen repair on the Valiant using a DIY kit. I have been curious about these since I spotted one recently at my local auto parts store, and wanted to see if they really do fix chips. You may have seen similar kits yourself. Generally they come with a suction tool to direct the resin that is supplied with the kit. Overall I was surprised with the result. I did manage to repair a couple of small chips, however it was a real struggle to deal with anything slightly larger. The one thing that drove me nuts was that the suction tool kept popping off at the worst possible time. It really was a fiddly job that tested my patience. However the end result was worth it. So if you do have a small chip in your windscreen and don’t want a crack check out what’s available at your local auto parts store.

Continue reading "DIY Windscreen Repair" »

For a second, it looks like the driver might get control of this wiggly dragster, but them it gets away from him and winds up skidding across the track on its roof. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s any real damage, and it’s almost certain he didn’t sustain anything more serious than a few bruises. It’s a shame there isn’t some in-car footage of this wreck, I bet it’d look scary as hell!

This radial-engine powered Goggomobil is easily one of the craziest things I’ve seen since I started working for CarDomain. I’d never even heard of these post-WWII German micro-cars before I saw this clip in the StreetFire queue, and I’m still stunned that builder Uwe Wulf was able to shoehorn the massive 10220cc Vedeneyev M14P airplane engine into such a tiny machine. But the fact that he fabricated his own two-speed tranny? That just blows my mind. While the Goggomobil came stock with an anemic 20HP, the Vedeneyev is pumping out 380HP and a demonic 666lbs of torque, so performance should be significantly improved. Head over to Jalopnik for tons of photos, and check out the video documenting the birth of this beast below.

Even though three-wheeled vehicles kind of sketch me out, I’ve always wanted a bike with a sidecar. And while my dream machine is a dead-simple, olive-drab WWII-era Harley, the craftsmanship evident on François Knorreck’s Laverda-based project is astonishing. While the 1000cc engine was carried over from the original bike, and some parts were lifted from a few cars—Renault, Citroen, BMW, VW and Audi—virtually everything else was custom fabricated by Knorreck. The sidecar is set up to carry two passengers, and though I have to wonder what the handling is like—Predictable? Scary?—I’d be more than willing to take it for a spin. Head over to the Kneeslider for more details on the build, and check out a couple more pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Most Insane Sidecar Project Ever!" »